Accepted Papers - 3.pdf - UNESCO

National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management 11-12 Nov. 2006, Nagpur
84. Water Resources Planning and Management in the face of
Global Warming and Changing Climate
* Pradeep K. Naik *P. K. Parchure *S. K. Bhatnagar
Climate is changing
Over the past century, India has built a vast
and complex infrastructure to provide clean water
for drinking and for industry, dispose of wastes,
facilitate transportation, generate electricity, irrigate
crops, and reduce the risks of floods and droughts.
This infrastructure has brought tremendous
benefits, albeit at a substantial economic and
environmental cost. To the average citizen, the
Nation’s dams, reservoirs, treatment plants, and
pipelines are largely invisible and taken for granted.
Yet they help insulate us from wet and dry years
and moderate other aspects of our naturally variable
climate. Indeed they have permitted us to almost
forget about our complex dependence on climate.
However, time has come we can no longer ignore
these close connections. The scientific evidence that
humans are changing the climate is increasingly
compelling. Complex impacts affecting every sector
of society, including especially the nation’s water
resources now seem unavoidable.
Don’t rely on uncertainties
Most impact studies have been using
information from global climate models that evaluate
the effects of increases in greenhouse gas
concentrations up to particular levels. Greater and
greater impacts would be expected to result from
ever increasing levels of climate change. Models
have their limitations, and many uncertainties still
remain. It is vital that uncertainties not be used to
delay or avoid taking certain kinds of action now.
Prudent planning requires that a strong national
climate and water research program be maintained,
that decisions about future water planning and
management be flexible, and that the risks and
benefits of climate change be incorporated into all
long-term water planning. Policy makers must start
considering climate change as a factor in all decisions
about water investments and the operation of existing
facilities and systems.
Need for action
A continued reliance solely on current
engineering practice may lead us to make incorrect
– and potentially dangerous or expensive –
decisions. India has invested thousands of crores of
rupees in dams, reservoirs and other concrete
structures. These systems were designed and for
the most part are operated assuming that future
climatic and hydrologic conditions will look like past
conditions. We now know this is no longer true.
Accordingly, two of the most important coping
strategies must be to try to understand what the
consequences of climate change will be for water
resources and to begin planning for and adapting to
those changes.
Coping and Adaptations – Public Policy
1. Prudent planning requires that a strong
national climate and water monitoring and research
programme be maintained, that decisions about
future water planning and management be flexible,
and that expensive and irreversible actions be avoided
in climate-sensitive areas.
2. Better methods of planning under climate
uncertainty should be developed and applied.
3. Governments at all levels should re-evaluate
legal, technical, and economic approaches for
managing water resources in the light of potential
climate changes. Improvements in the efficiency of
* Scientist, Central Ground Water Board, Central Region, N.S. Building, Civil Lines, Nagpur – 440 001
Ph.9423106185; Email. pradeep.naik@water.net.in
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